Kuwait cuts foreign firms tax to 25 percent

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The Kuwaiti cabinet has approved on Sunday, June 3, a bill to lower taxation on foreign companies operating in the emirate to a maximum of 25 percent of the firm’s profits. Until now, foreign companies were allowed to own no more than a more than a 49 percent stake in joint ventures in Kuwait and were required to pay up to 55 percent of their net profits as taxes,

This recent measure is considered an incentive to foreign investors, as part of long-promised list of economic reform bills, which Kuwait has introduced in a bid to liberalize and boost its slow state-dominated economy.

The bill must now be passed on for the parliament’s approval before it becomes a law. The first reading of a foreign investment bill, offering also tax holidays of up to 10 years, was passed through parliament in March.

The foreign investment law does not cover the strategic oil sector, which is still firmly in the state's hands. ― (MENA Report)